Trash to Treasure - Turn fabric scraps and bed springs into Fall home decor

Gotta love it when you can turn trash to treasure! Today I'm sharing a video tutorial on how to create acorns from scraps of fabric.  Combine these with an old bed spring, some twigs and who knows what else you can find and you've got a fun candle stick holder!

To view the video - click here

Hints:  Old scraps of fabric are perfect for this project.  Gather twigs and maybe even a few berries from your yard to make this project festive.  I added extra texture by creating foliage with the S4-329 Foliage templates and dictionary paper.  It’s a fun touch and adds a little bit of unexpected texture!

Variation:  Paint your acorns in fun colors and decoupage words.  Display in a decorative bowl.  They make great conversation starters.

Spellbinders Supplies:

MMM-001 Spellbinders® Artisan X-plorer™ machine

MD1-006 Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Shields One die templates

S4-328 Spellbinders® Foliage die templates (optional)

Dictionary paper (optional)

Scraps of fabric in fall colors and patterns

Burlap

Needle and thread with matching color

Scissors

Tacky glue

Green chalk ink and makeup sponge

Polyester fiberfill or other suitable stuffing material

Acrylic paint – Tan, brown

Flat paintbrush

For the candle:

Bedspring

Battery operated taper candle

Twigs and/or berries

Fabric bow

Hot Glue

Cut three shield shapes from fabric using the #3 (with #1 being the smallest) Shields three die template.

Round off the point with scissors approximately 1/4” from the bottom.

With right sides together stitch pieces together beginning at the bottom center upwards to the top approximately 1/8” from the edge. 

Open up and set in remaining piece.  Stitch around beginning at one side on the top and sewing completely around to other side.  (add a little daub of glue on the edges to prevent them from pulling apart and fraying.  Let the glue dry.)

Turn right side out and add stuffing.

Stitch around the top approximately 1/4” from the top and pull thread tight to close opening.  Add glue and let dry.  Trim off excess with scissors.

Cut a random circle shape from burlap about 1/2” bigger that the size of your acorn.  Glue to top.

Paint acorn tan.  Let dry and then streak with brown if desired.  Add a little darker brown to the burlap and let dry.

As an option, cut several foliage shapes from dictionary paper and color with green ink.

Arrange twigs, acorns, paper foliage and berries.  Glue onto bedspring with hot glue.  Attach a bow with hot glue where desired. 

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The EASY way to make a Snowman Canvas on today's Mixed Media Monday Video

Happy Monday Crafty Peeps!!!

Some of you have already gotten a sneak peek of the video feature for this week.  I am often asked what my favorite character to create is, it would hands down be SNOWMEN! They're so fun and just looking at them makes me smile.

So in this video, I share with you my secret tips on how easy it is to create this snowman on a mini canvas!  What a great little decoration - and what a great gift too!

I'd love to hear what you think - so please share with me your favorite snowman project or leave me a suggestion for future videos.

Click here to see the video on youtube



The EASY way to create a Mixed Media Snowman Canvas

 I’ve been collecting snowmen for years and years and in the wintertime, snowflakes and snowmen decorate my house!  They have a way of brightening up my day and make me smile.  In this video, I show you how to create this adorable snowman canvas which is a perfect project to start with if you are new to mixed media.  I used a canvas board, but think creatively and explore beyond the base.  What unique base will you create your snowman on?

Project Dimensions: Varies

Spellbinders Supplies:

MMM-001 Spellbinders® Artisan X-plorer™ machine

MD1-012 Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Circles Three die templates

  

S5-117 Spellbinders® 2012 Snowflake Pendant die templates

SKU: F-003 – Spellbinders® Blue Premium Craft Foil or MM1-001 Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™   Foil Pack One

Music patterned paper

Dictionary Paper or similar paper with words

Printed Phrase

Acrylic paint:  turquoise blue, green, red, orange, off white and white

Fine Tip Permanant markers – black and brown

4 x 4 Gesso board or canvas

Small star sticker

Tacky Glue

Paintbrushes (small flat)

Decoupage medium or Soft gel medium (glossy)

Cosmetic sponge

Sanding sponge

Moist baby wipe

Bubble wrap

Container of water

Paper towels

Decoupage music sheet onto canvas and let dry.  Sand excess paper away with sanding sponge.

Using finger or cosmetic sponge apply blue and green color over the music paper.  Rub away excess with baby wipe to leave some of the music paper showing through. 

Cut one large and one medium circle using the #2 and #3 (with #1 being the smallest) Circles Three dies.  Decoupage them to the canvas.

Cut one small snowflake from foil if desired.

Paint over snowman with off white, rubbing some of the paint away to expose the paper underneath.  Add white for highlights.

Paint a red scarf using a slightly curved line between the body and head and add two long triangles for scarf tails.  Add white highlights.  Let dry.

Paint in cheeks with a blend of red/white and a small orange nose. Let dry.

Cut out phrases and decoupage them to the surface.  Let dry, then outline with marker.

Outline the snowman, add “x’s” for eyes and mouth and draw in any extra details.

Frame the canvas with random lines around the perimeter.

Add a small amount of white paint to bubble wrap and randomly stamp onto canvas for snow.

Glue on silver snowflake and add star sticker.

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We named them Hilda and Matilda- Dressforms from scratch

My very creative cousin Kelly came from California to visit me  last week.  Our Mom's are sisters. You can really tell that we come from the same family because our personalities and things we like are so similar, yet we each possess our own different perspective, which I LOVE! (I happen to love dragonflies and her...not so much )  It was so awesome(sauce) to have her around to create with and to bounce ideas off of.

Kelly's specialty is creating jewelry from vintage china and stoneware. And being that she does a number of vintage markets in the southern California area she wanted to learn how to create some dressform displays.  Check our her Tularosa Vintage facebook page.

We created Hilda and Mathilda completely from scratch using a recycled armature, chicken wire and home-made paper mache.  We covered them with tissue from vintage patterns from my Mom's collection - which I think makes them extra special.  (Hilda is on the left and Mathilda is on the right).   We laughed as we gave them personalities and even joked that if we lived closer we would open up a shop called Hilda and Mathilda.

We made the most of our 5 days together with some junkin at Phoena's Vintage Market in Billings, MO, an awesome garage sale and tons of time in the studio creating jewelry using a variety of metal working techniques.

We soldered, and rusted and dapped and hammered and most of all laughed until the wee hours of the morning!

And we finished up her visit with a journey to our favorite Tea Room - Spring Creek Tea room in Ozark.

"Hilda" loves bicycles - I think she only has about 300 or so....give or take a few and this one caught her eye.

Time with family is so precious - especially since we get so little time to spend together living so far apart.  I really hated sending her back home.

Keep checking back - I've created so much jewelry that I'll be posting more frequently.
Keep livin' the creative life!

Linda (aka Mathilda - do I really look like a Mathilda?)


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Project SNOWFLAKE! Create gifts with Dollar Store Candles - Mixed Media Monday

I personally love handmade gifts.  They don’t always have to be big elaborate gifts, sometimes, it’s just nice to give a small – “Hey, I’m thinking of you” kinda gift!.  These candles from the Dollar Store are perfect to keep on hand when you need to give a little something.  During the winter season, I love decorating with snowmen and snowflakes and how easy it is to do with the dies from Spellbinders!

Watch the video on my youtube channel - Click here

Project Dimensions: Varies

Spellbinders Supplies:

MMM-001 Spellbinders® Artisan X-plorer™ machine

MD1-012 Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Circles Three die templates

  

S5-117 Spellbinders® 2012 Snowflake Pendant die templates

SKU: F-003 – Spellbinders® Blue Premium Craft Foil or MM1-001 Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™   Foil Pack One

Music patterned paper

Dictionary Paper or similar paper with words

Printed Phrase

Acrylic paint:  turquoise blue, green, red, orange, off white and white

Fine Tip Permanant markers – black and brown

4 x 4 Gesso board or canvas

Small star sticker

Tacky Glue

Paintbrushes (small flat)

Decoupage medium or Soft gel medium (glossy)

Cosmetic sponge

Sanding sponge

Moist baby wipe

Bubble wrap

Decoupage music sheet onto canvas and let dry.  Sand excess paper away with sanding sponge.

Using finger or cosmetic sponge apply blue and green color over the music paper.  Rub away excess with baby wipe to leave some of the music paper showing through. 

Cut one large and one medium circle using the #2 and #3 (with #1 being the smallest) Circles Three dies.  Decoupage them to the canvas.

Cut one small snowflake from foil if desired.

Paint over snowman with off white, rubbing some of the paint away to expose the paper underneath.  Add white for highlights.

Paint a red scarf using a slightly curved line between the body and head and add two long triangles for scarf tails.  Add white highlights.  Let dry.

Paint in cheeks with a blend of red/white and a small orange nose. Let dry.

Cut out phrases and decoupage them to the surface.  Let dry, then outline with marker.

Outline the snowman, add “x’s” for eyes and mouth and draw in any extra details.

Frame the canvas with random lines around the perimeter.

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